Two arrested in beating of Andover man in New York

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Two men have been arrested in the bludgeoning of a 24-year-old Andover man with a baseball bat and tire iron outside a Greenwich Village pizzeria on Sunday morning that left the former youth worker with a fractured skull, ­authorities said.

Law enforcement officials declined to identify the victim Wednesday, but the New York Daily News, citing police and witnesses, reported that the man is Kevin McCarron of ­Andover. His family could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

According to the New York City ­Police Department, officers responded to 95 MacDougal St. at about 5:10 a.m. and discovered that several suspects had approached a group including McCarron and that an altercation ­ensued.

McCarron “was struck with a bat, tire iron, and was punched and kicked while on the ground by several suspects and was unconscious,” police said in a report.

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He was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital in critical condition, police said, and six other men suffered minor injuries.

A police spokesman said ­authorities were still investigating Wednesday what may have touched off the altercation.

A brief video clip posted to the Daily News website that ­apparently captured part of the attack shows several young men kicking another man on the ground. One attacker is wielding a large object. A woman can be heard screaming, and a man is heard shouting profanity.

McCarron’s condition could not be determined Wednesday. A hospital spokeswoman said she could not release any information about him, including whether he was still being treated there, citing patient privacy law.

According to authorities, two Brooklyn men, Hatem ­Farsakh, 24, and Sherif Rizk, 22, have been arrested on charges including attempted criminally negligent homicide, and police are seeking other suspects.

Farsakh pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday in Manhattan Criminal Court and was ordered held on $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond, said a spokeswoman for the ­Manhattan district attorney’s office.

A lawyer for Farsakh, James Kilduff, said Wednesday that his client had posted bail.

“He denies the allegations as set forth,” Kilduff said. “He maintains he’s innocent of the charges and looks forward to his day in court.”

A working telephone number for Farsakh could not be found. Arraignment information for Rizk was not immediately available.

A complaint ­released by prosecutors in ­Farsakh’s case said he and about six others beat McCarron with “three large hard objects,” kicked him, and caused him to suffer “substantial bleeding, swelling, loss of consciousness, and a fractured skull.”

It was not immediately clear why McCarron was in New York over the weekend.

According to his LinkedIn page, he graduated from ­Central Catholic High School in Lawrence and Providence College and currently works at the Eliassen Group in Wakefield, a technology staffing firm.

Paul Fleming, a company spokesman, said McCarron joined the company six months ago and works as a technical ­recruiter.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Kevin and his family as he continues to recover from the injuries he sustained in New York on Sunday morning,” Fleming said. “He is a pleasure to work with, and all of his colleagues have missed his presence in the office. We eagerly await his return to work.”